CCL draw pits Central with Vancouver Whitecaps and Sporting Kansas City in Group C; Connection in Group A against Honduras Progreso and Mexico’s Pumas

Tuesday May 31, 2016

Caribbean champions Central FC will contest Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs Vancouver Whitecaps and Sporting Kansas City in Group C of the 2016/17 CONCACAF Champions League group stage which was determined during last Monday’s draw at the Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach, Miami.

The draw, conducted by the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), sorted the 24 participating clubs into eight (8) groups of three for the eighth edition of the continental championship in its current format.

W Connection, who will enter their eight CONCACAF campaign, are pooled with CONCACAF debutants, Honduras Progreso of Honduras, and three-time former CONCACAF champions, Pumas of Mexico, in Group A.

However Pumas, champions in 1980, 1982 and 1989 under the tournament’s previous name, CONCACAF Champions Cup, will be competing for the first time under the new format and name, CONCACAF Champions League, which was introduced in 2008/09.

Meanwhile Central, the Digicel Pro League and Caribbean champions for a second consecutive time, will enter their second consecutive CONCACAF Champions League against Canada’s Vancouver Whitecaps, also on their second consecutive CCL, and U.S. outfit Sporting Kansas City who will mark their third CCL campaign.

The groups will be contested on a round-robin, home-and-away, four-game format, running August – October 2016. Only the eight first-place teams will progress to the quarterfinals, which will kick-off in early 2017.

The full schedule for the group stage will be announced by CONCACAF in the coming weeks.The groups for the 2016/17 CONCACAF Champions League, in order of position drawn, are as follows:

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